President-elect Donald Trump seemed ‘more highly engaged’ with ex-President Barack Obama whom he’s sparred with, than his wife Melania at former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral, body language experts say.
During Carter’s state funeral which brought together all five living US presidents, Trump spent several minutes speaking and laughing with Obama while seated next to him in the second row at Washington National Cathedral.
It was surprising given how much the two have criticized each other in the past.
Trump and Obama had ‘more highly engaged interaction and friendlier than what we saw with Melania and (Donald) Trump,’ body language expert Chris Ulrich told Metro.
As the two former presidents on Thursday exchanged banter for what seemed to be a good three minutes, Melania sat at the far end of the row solemnly reading a prayer book and keeping to herself.
Ulrich, founder of CU in the Moment, said that when Trump and Melania ‘do finally talk in he end, it does have some of that friendliness in it’ and that it is noticeable given the couple’s ‘normal kind of presence around each other is respectfully cordial… not heartfelt or close’.
Body language expert Susan Constantine, who is certified in the Facial Action Coding System, said that Trump and Obama seemed to have ‘built some sort of synergy’ and whatever clashes they had ‘they’ve set it all aside’.
‘They feel compatible with one another. When you look at the others seated behind them, there’s all kinds of tension while the two are natural, just chucking it up,’ she told Metro.
‘There’s a sense of ease. Maybe because Obama has come to a place where he’s putting the country first and Trump is the next one in line (for the White House)… They feel comfortable with one another. Genuine smiles, passing on a little inside scoop.’
Meanwhile, Melania’s body language was ‘very contained like in a cannister’ and she looked like she was ‘struggling throughout’ the funeral.
‘Her lips are pressed, not showing any facial expressions, but really feeling uncomfortable,’ Constantine said.
‘I think (Donald) Trump, to give him a little bit of a coaching session here, this is what he could have done to make it better, is just put his left arm on her hand to make her feel included. She’s feeling like an outsider, she’s invisible here.’
Constantine said that ‘definitely it was more engaging’ between Trump and Obama than between Trump and his wife.
‘The two of them, keep in mind, they have the connection that they are past presidents, so there is going to be more of a connection professionally,’ she said.
Two other experts interpreted the Trump-Obama exchange as being a bit less chummy.
Body language expert Patti Wood, who speaks on grief and loss, pointed out that Trump’s body and his heart were tilted toward Obama, showing a great effort to engage with him. But Obama seemed a bit frostier toward Trump.
‘He’s got his left arm in what is called a guarded position, close to his body and slightly turned away from Trump, and is using his right arm to do an arm block,’ Wood told Metro of Obama.
‘He’s smiling, but if you look at the front teeth it’s a bit of a bite, and if you look at the way his nose is kind of crunched up, it’s not quite disgust nose… so that’s interesting.’
Wood likened Melania’s outfit to that of a conservative nun’s and said she ‘looks like a prisoner’.
‘She looks angry,’ Wood said, and there was ‘no leaning, no touching’ her husband.
‘They’re just sitting next to each other,’ she said of the Trumps. ‘If you didn’t know they were a couple, it would be hard to recognize that.’
Wood added that Trump tried to ‘engage and be intimate with former President Obama’ but that he was ‘not being present, not acknowledging any warmth and connection with her’.
Body language expert Darren Stanton, speaking on behalf of Slingo, noted that Obama ‘leans forward and speaks, and Trump leans back to him as well’.
‘Trump appears to be flashing contempt, he’s showing a bilateral smile, that’s contempt and smugness, flashing this grin,’ Stanton told Metro.
‘It’s all to do with power dynamics, deep down, Trump knows he’s soon to be the president, and that shapes his expressions here.’
Another notable dynamic stood out with Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, who lost the 2024 election to him. Constantine described it as ‘not good at all’ and said Harris’ facial expression had a ‘sense of tension’ that is a ‘byproduct of hostility, anger’.
‘I can see deep breathing which means it’s a very stressful situation,’ she said of Harris, who sat in the front row.
‘Is it because of the funeral and it was meaningful to her? Or the environment and President Trump sitting right behind – I would say it’s that more than anything else.’
Ulrich said that Trump looked over at Harris as she took her seat at the cathedral but she did not engage. But it’s worth considering that initial greetings among the group could have happened prior.
‘There was an opportunity for a hello or greeting. She never engages (with Trump) – that could be intentional, could be the protocol is serious and mutual respect. Not a slight because she doesn’t make eye contact with anyone else,’ he said.
Similarly, there was non-acknowledgement between Trump and President Joe Biden, who was the last to enter the cathedral.
‘Same kind of thing,’ Ulrich said, comparing it to the Trump-Harris encounter. ‘Pointless to acknowledge.’
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